A/N: D- doesn't belong to meeeeee
CHAPTER SEVEN
London, 2012
Caius sat up with a groan. He was in some sort of room... an odd light was hanging from a white ceiling. Around him were six beds- three suspended in the air, three below them. Wrinkling his nose at the oddness of it all, he climbed out of bed and wandered around, peering at the occupants of the bed.
In the bed above him was a dark-skinned girl with long dark hair caked with blood. She also had a hole in her head... what had made it, Caius didn't like to think.
In the next bed he found a fair girl, her skin partially dyed blue. It was strange, to say the least. Above her was a sandy-haired boy. Nothing seemed to be wrong with him, not like the two girls he had peered at so far.
In the next bed was a boy with untidy black hair. He wore odd clothes... now that Caius thought about it, they all wore odd clothes. Above him was a girl with ginger hair, looking as weak and frail as a scroll.
Where in Castor's name am I? he wondered as he returned to sit on his own bed. And, as he did, the blue-skinned girl began to stir... and sat up.
He saw her scrunch her face in confusion, and look around the room... and then she noticed him. And stared. And then she birst out laughing.
"What are you wearing?!" she gasped. Caius frowned; he wasn't sure he liked her, at all really.
"Oh, be quiet!" he snapped. "I don't suppose you know where we-"
"Are?" she finished, raising an eyebrow. She shook her head. "Nein, I've no clue. Who're in the other beds?"
"A girl with a hole in her head, a boy with blonde hair, a boy with black hair and a girl with ginger hair," Caius told her, checking them off on his fingers. The girl nodded, standing up and swaying on her feet.
"Oh, I'm all a-flutter!" she gasped, holding onto the structure of the bed.
Caius didn't answer, for at that moment, there was a loud yell from one of the other beds. The ravenette boy sat up, banged his head on the bunk above him, and then rolled onto the floor. He stood up, pulling a kitchen knife out of his pocket and aiming it at Caius, then at the girl, and back again.
He spoke a weird language, one that Caius had never heard before. The blue-skinned girl said something to him in the same language, and they seemed to come to an understanding.
"Uh, excuse me?" he asked the girl. "What did he say?"
"He wanted to know who we were. His name is Luke. Oh, and my name is Peppa, by the way. What's yours?"
"Caius," he responded absently, still glaring distrustfully at the dark-haired man, who said something else in that strange language. The girl turned and replied to him again.
More of the people woke up, and all of them spoke that strange language. He sat there, not understanding anything they said as they spoke in low voices. Then one of them- the girl with ginger hair- spoke straight at him with those strange words they all used. Peppa said something to her, then turned to Caius.
"Caius, these are Edmund," she gestured to the sandy-haired boy, "Chloe," she pointed to the ginger-haired girl, "And Melodie," she pointed to the girl with the hole in her head. Then she turned back to the others and said something to them. Caius though he heard his name, and the word 'latin'.
A loud voice echoed over the room, again in that strange language. In the minmum light Caius saw a figure stood above them. He recognised the person as the man who had come to get him. He had twisted grey-brown hair and a beard, matted and going grey. His eyes were grey and bloodshot. His face was sunken with age, wrinkled and shadowed.
One of the others demanded something, the boy Edmund, and the man said something else soothingly. The boy glowered at him and then sat back down. The man turned to Caius.
"Salve, Caius," he greeted. "My name is Johnson. Now, if you put these on your ears-" he extended a hand that held two strange objects- "You shall be able to understand what I and the others are saying." Caius gave the things a distrustful look. "Please," the man added, "It would make this a lot easier." Caius nodded, took them and fitted them onto his ears.
"Now," the man said, again speaking in that strange language. This time, however, Caius could understand. Huh, I suppose these things must work, he thought.
"I should explain to you why you are here, and about our agency. 'The Agency'- better known as 'TimeRiders'- is a small, elite group of people with two goals only. One- to prevent time-travel destroying the universe. Two- to make sure this agency remains secret."
"Wait, did you say time-travel?" Edmund asked in confusion.
"That's right. Due to the work of two masterminds- Edward Chan and Roald Waldstein- Time Travel has become possible. Of course, this doesn't happen for a long time yet, and the details can wait. A while ago, there was only one team working to correct history, and I figured there should be another team on the job. So I rounded up six more recruits- bringing our numbers up to ten. You have all been specially-selected for a reason; Waldstein and I did not make this decision lightly. You all have skills that suit you to your jobs, your roles. That will all be explained later. For now I will tun the lights on, and show you your field office."
Johnson made his way over to a white strip on the wall. Caius heard a clicking noise, and the place around them began to light up. He and the others stared around, muffling gasps.
The place was a mess.
A/N: Hehe, I particularly like writing this chapter! And I decided to make Peppa bi-lingual- she speaks German, Latin and English. Anyway, please, please, please review!